


To Learn Every Note

by whichstar



Category: Winx Club
Genre: Aisha pov, Alternate Universe - Canon, F/F, Friends to Lovers, Getting Together, Hugs, Musa likes hugs shhhhh, Musa says shes tough but she softie, ur hnor they love each other
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-03-08
Updated: 2021-03-12
Packaged: 2021-03-14 03:21:34
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 12,504
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29910675
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/whichstar/pseuds/whichstar
Summary: Her whole existence was a song rich with emotions, Aisha wanted to learn every note. When had she fallen in love? Aisha wondered as she stared into indigo eyes. Was it in the quiet nights, the gentle touches, or was it in the fiery glances, the bold whispers.or: Aisha and Musa, through the years
Relationships: Aisha | Layla/Musa (Winx Club)
Comments: 2
Kudos: 5





	1. Late Nights

**Author's Note:**

> I can't believe I wrote this. I rewatched some of the original Winx bc of the live action news and I just started writing this for fun. It's over 10k words. I couldn't control myself. It's over 10k.. why..

Aisha woke up to music. Her eyelids fluttered open to an unfamiliar green ceiling and the scent of disinfectant filled her nostrils, making her head spin.

Where was she? Where was Piff? And where was the music coming from?

She carefully moved her head towards the general direction, the bed squeaking under her. Through bleary eyes, she saw a girl sitting crossed legged on the floor, playing a flute. It sounded like a lullaby.

The girl was swaying with the music, straight cut bangs framing her face. Her black hair was in pigtails and she had clunky yellow headphones over her ears. Her eyes were closed and she clearly didn't notice that Aisha had woken up, far too swept up in the melody.

Aisha was glad for that. She didn't know what she would say right now, her mind all jumbled. The soft song relaxed her, lessening the throbbing in her head. The flute reached a crescendo as Aisha's eyes grew heavy, and sleep overtook her once more.

"She's waking up!" A tanned girl in green peered down at Aisha.

Aisha sat up, her mind foggy but not throbbing like before. She searched the room, barely registering another person behind the girl in front of her. She swung her legs to the floor. The palm of her hands centered her thoughts, the wrinkles marking that four days have passed.

"Where's Piff?"

She could barely understand what was being said as her head grew heavy and she fell unconscious again.

"Look, she's waking up again!"

Aisha straightened, massaging her head. "Where am I?"

"You're safe at Alfea school." A musical voice greeted her ears. Aisha turned her attention from the girl in front of her to another girl in a pink top and familiar pigtails. It was the lullaby girl and her voice was as soothing as the flute from before.

There was some commotion, some conversation, and suddenly Piff was crying. Then, Aisha found herself with a sandwich as a hat. It was embarrassing, to say the least, and the blonde girl didn't even apologize.

A stunned silence filled the room as a tomato dripped down her forehead.

"Hey, welcome to Alfea." The flute player quipped and her friends burst out laughing.

Aisha turned red, a bit insulted to see that they were laughing at her. But the girls' laughs had no bite to it, instead making Aisha feel like she should laugh too. The girl with the pigtails especially had a laugh that sounded almost like a melody, her voice rising above the others and drawing Aisha in. Piff fell back asleep.

Once she was cleaned up, she found herself looking up at Bloom, who seemed like the de facto leader of the small group. "So this is your school, am I correct?"

"Yes." The melodious voice drew her attention away from Bloom. Lullaby girl pointed to herself. "I'm Musa."

Aisha felt her eyes linger on Musa after they all introduced themselves. She was the shortest member of the four and her ears stuck out like a monkey, in a cute sort of way. But Aisha quickly cleared her head of cute girls, she had to focus on saving the pixies.

That didn't stop her from being painfully aware of how close Musa was sitting next to her when she told them her story though. Or how comforting Musa's hug was when Aisha broke down in tears.

She stared into Musa's eyes when the fairy propped her up. Musa's eyes weren't black, Aisha realized, they were dark blue. Her tears slowed to a stop as Musa smiled a reassuring smile. "You can count on us."

And Aisha believed her.

Arriving back to the school after the mission with Stella, Bloom, Sky, and Brandon was a welcome relief from all the worry she held in beforehand. The pixies were safe, and two of them had bonded with her new friends. She could only hope that the rest of the pixies liked Alfea as much as she did.

The hovercraft reached the lawn and Aisha could see the familiar faces of the Winx waiting for them along with other Specialists. Musa was wringing her hands away from the crowd, pacing back and forth. Her expression was scarily close to the angry tears she had worn when Faragonda showed how useless her powers were underground. As the plane's shadow loomed over them, a look of tentative relief and hope filled Musa's face as she sprinted from her spot next to a tree, joining Flora and Tecna.

The latch of the hovercraft yawned open and Aisha knew that her face mirrored the look of relief breaking out on all the other's as the group reunited. Musa immediately crushed Stella into a hug, all of their usual rivarly forgotten. Aisha turned her attention to Piff, making sure her bonded pixie was well taken care of.

Later at the dorm, Aisha watched as the Winx fussed over each other like concerned mothers. Flora insisted on them eating a lot more than humanly possible, and Tecna examined every inch for injuries. Musa saved them from further inspection and Flora's insistence of fattening them up by offering to cut fruit, which immediately made Stella burst into tears and hug her.

Musa awkwardly patted Stella on the back, the tips of her ears going red. She had piercings, Aisha noticed, a bit strange for a Melodian. From what Aisha knew, Melodians were reverent about one's ears and taking care of them was a status of wealth. But Musa had three small earrings dangling from her left ear, and when she turned her head Aisha saw one big ear cuff earring on her right. Interesting.

"Cutting fruit," Stella was sobbing. "Do you really mean it?"

Mean what? Aisha looked around to see everyone else but Tecna looking equally confused. Tecna, seeing the others glance at her, gave a small smile.

"Course I do," Musa's voice was gruff and muffled from Stella's shoulder. "Now stop being such a baby."

The hiccups from Stella eventually came to cease and Musa, clearly trying to conceal her embarrassment, asked Flora for some fruit. A while later she was sitting crossed legged on the floor back against the couch where Aisha was sitting on, chopping away at some apples. The tips of her ears were still tinged red.

"What's so important about cutting fruit?" Bloom asked the question on everyone's minds.

Stella gasped. "You don't know?"

Musa shifted, her back brushing against Aisha's legs in the process. She waved the hand with the knife nervously, looking somewhat embarrassed.

Flora shook her head and was about to say something when Stella bursted out. "It means I love you!"

"What?" Flora asked, her brows knitting together in confusion.

"Actually it's more neutral," Musa clarified.

"Melodians like showing their love-slash-appreciation through cutting fruit for one another." Tecna jumped in upon seeing all the misinformation. "Musa's only downplaying it because there's also a very common practice of serving fruit when someone comes over."

Flora and Bloom got a little teary eyed at that, and admittedly so did Aisha. No wonder Stella had cried; somehow Aisha got the feeling that Musa didn't express her own feelings often. She made a mental note to cut Musa some fruit later, when she got the chance.

"So Musa does have a soft side after all," Stella gushed.

Musa rolled her eyes and pushed the finished platter of apples to the fairy of light. "Just eat."

The girls eagerly reached to grab the sliced apples. Aisha was about to stand and get some for herself when Musa handed her a piece.

"Thank you."

The music fairy smiled and Aisha's heart thundered in her ears. "You're welcome."

"What's up with the earrings?" Aisha blurted out in an effort to conceal her blush. She touched her ear as a explanation, going even more red in embarrassment. What if Musa took offense?

Musa reached to touch the ear cuff on her right. It was silver with small chains looping down from the ears and coming back up attached to a eight point star. "My earrings?"

Aisha scrambled to save herself. "I just-- I thought Melodians placed a lot of importance in maintaining ears. I'm so sorry, that was rude of me to as-"

Musa laughed. "Don't worry, I understand. You're right, partially, the fairies of Melody do place importance on their ears but everyone chooses to express it differently."

Aisha watched as Musa turned around to give a better look at her left ear. The three earrings ear were shaped in as a sun, moon, and star made from a fine silver. They dangled from small chains, connected to bigger hoops in between them. They were beautifully delicate.

"They don't affect my hearing." Musa assured her, exposing her pale neck so that the earrings were on full display. "And that's really all that matters. You'd be surprised at how big of a piercing culture there is at Melody."

"That's so cool," Aisha marveled. "What's it like in Melody?"

Musa shifted back into her original position, her eyes looking faraway. "There's sound, lots of sound, everywhere. I lived in the city, it's pretty chaotic."

"Sounds like your type of place," Aisha nodded. Musa in her punk-type clothes would fit right in to the busy city street fashion.

Musa chuckled and handed Aisha another apple slice. "Yeah, I guess it does."

Aisha munched on it thoughtfully, watching the other Winx talk. They didn't seem to mind that Musa and her had broken off from the main conversation about the caves from their mission. She didn't feel the need to join in, which was surprising. Usually she felt like she couldn't join in, like she was excluded. But being around the Winx felt different, a good different.

And for the first time in a while, Aisha was content.

Musa was a strong willed fairy with a cool persona. And a very stubborn one too. But, she was one of the first members of the school to actually make Aisha feel welcomed.

The first thing that happened after Aisha learned that she would remain at Alfea was Musa suggesting to take her on a tour. Aisha gladly accepted, and the rest of the Winx agreed. Now that the pixies were safe, Aisha could allow herself to relax and get to know her new friends better.

Aisha appreciated the way Musa went out of her way to include her in the conversation. Her quick comebacks and comments, mostly directed at Stella, were insanely clever and oftentimes hilarious. Aisha had been originally surprised at how Musa, who wasn't royalty, had the guts to reprimand Stella, a very important princess, but now she couldn't imagine her life without the two bickering.

Fighting wise, Musa was a powerful asset. Out of all of the Winx, Musa was the fastest and therefore could deal the most hits. Aisha could still remember the astonishment she felt when she saw Musa zip across the Alfea fields in fairy form. As the shortest, and smallest, of their group, she was also the stealthiest. Musa dealt with precise hits, not afraid of getting up close and personal. Far too often she ended up in the infirmary for breaking the sound barrier in order to punch her target at full blast.

Sometimes the fairy's recklessness worried her. Musa was not afraid to fight dirty and while her ability to think quick on her feet was admirable, she had little concern for her own limits. That was made particulary obvious by her addiction to caffiene, which Flora was trying to battle with tea -- but that was a different story. Musa was always in motion, vibrating from all the energy drinks she consumed daily and bouncing along to whatever song that was currently stuck in her head.

Always in motion and constantly busy. If she wasn't zipping around the school, she was practicing music. Aisha admired the copious amount of practice Musa put in daily, mainly playing the flute but also a lot of other instruments. Somehow, in between all that, the fairy managed to make time for her friends as well. Aisha found it astonishing how one fairy could be so well rounded. She herself was barely juggling schoolwork with her usual exercising routine. Musa, on the other hand, seemed to be doing everything without breaking a sweat.

Like now, in Professor Griselda's class. Aisha watched with the others as Musa flew out of the trees. Her fairy form was beautiful, shimmering red hugging her body and red headphones over her ears. Her wings buzzed like a hummingbird's, going way faster than Bloom or Stella's, the two fairies behind her.

Musa executed an aerial flip and whooped before setting down in front of Professor Griselda. Stella and Bloom landed after her, panting from the workout. Again, Aisha was reminded of just how short Musa was, the music fairy barely making it past Bloom's neck. She was grinning, still clearly feeling the effects of a good flight.

The three fairies phased out of their fairy forms as Professor Griselda spoke to them. Aisha's eyes couldn't help but appreciate the single strap tank top Musa often wore that exposed her midriff. The baggy jeans that sagged low enough to reveal hints of pink panties didn't help either. And Aisha for sure didn't think that was kinda hot. Regardless, she frequently had to avert her eyes more than necessary because they kept drifting downwards. And this time it was no different.

"Aisha, Flora, Tecna, your turn." Professor Griselda called out, breaking Aisha out of her thoughts about Musa's wardrobe.

She quickly stood up and filed after Tecna. They passed by Musa, who gave a small fist pump of good luck; Aisha smiled warmly back.

"You will be following the orange flags." Professor Griselda instructed, her narrowed eyes studying the three of them critically.

"Flora, lead the way." Tecna took charge, tapping some things into her super computer before tranforming into fairy form. "Aisha, left flank. You're on defense."

Aisha took a deep breath, centered herself, and transformed. She nodded at Tecna's instructions, flying up to the already floating Flora. "Let's do this."

The activity went fairly well, the three working like a well oiled machine. They couldn't beat the record set by Bloom's group, but that was a given seeing as they had Musa. Any group with Musa for an activity about speed was garunteed first place. Aisha hadn't missed the gleam in Stella's eyes when she and Bloom ran up to Musa as soon as Griselda let them form into groups. The princess of Solaria really needed that grade boost, and apparently so did Bloom.

Tecna had joined the amused Aisha at the beginning of class in watching the two fairies talk to Musa. "It seems that our easy A plus has now turned into an A minus."

"Definitely," Aisha agreed. "Betrayal in its ultimate form"

"Don't say that," Flora chided. "She's our friend, not just a way for us to get high marks. Let them have Musa this time."

A beat passed.

"They need her more than we do."

Aisha and Tecna gaped at the unexpected, underhanded, comment from Flora before immediately bursting into giggles. The three fairies they were watching looked over curiously, Musa sending over a crooked smile. Stella's oblivious expression only caused them to devolve into further laughter.

Professor Griselda had shot them an annoyed glance before leading the class out into the courtyard. Aisha was elated, one of her secret pipe dreams being filled: laughing over the teacher with friends. Slowly, day by day, Aisha was adjusting well to having a group of friends she could rely on.

For the most part, that was. The nights alone were a whole different story. But Aisha pushed that out of her mind, forcing her thoughts back to the task at hand. Flora and Tecna needed her just as much as she needed them to fulfill this group assignment. She wasn't going to let them down.

The high marks they all received that day pleased Stella to no end.

Another night, another nightmare. Aisha rose to a sitting position, breathing heavily. Her room was empty, the only sound coming from the occasional sniffle by Piff. The nightmare was nothing new, the same old fear manifesting in her dreams, but it was still terrifying. The quiet of her room closed in around her, and the oppressive loneliness threatened to isolate.

She focused on her hands, studying the way they were shaped in order to re-center herself. They weren't anything pretty, worn and calloused. Nothing like Musa's. Musa's hands were like a work of art, long and thin, yet surprisingly nimble and strong. Not that Aisha had been studying her friend's hands, or anything.

Aisha shook her head as if to get rid of those thoughts. Enough about Musa. Plus, in response to her fears, she wasn't alone anymore, Piff was right next to her and she was a part of the Winx now. Usually she would stare at the ceiling and wait to fall back asleep, but tonight she felt restless.

She pushed the covers off her legs, considering her options. Maybe she should explore the castle, even if it was past curfew. She barely knew her way around Alfea, and it would be embarrassing to ask for directions when the school year had already started. Aisha scoffed to herself, yeah sure, figuring everything out by herself in the dead of night definitely seemed like a good plan. Totally not a recipe for disaster or anything.

Aisha dragged herself out of bed, shooting a fond glance towards where Piff laid sleeping. It was ironic how she was bonded with the pixie of sleep. Kind of how like Tune, the pixie of Etiquette, had bonded with Musa, one of the most tomboyish members of their group.

The door to her room opened with an almost soundless creak and Aisha stepped into a dark common room. She moved slowly, aware of every sound she made. But it wasn't as dark as it should've been, a light was coming from the other side of Tecna and Musa's room. Aisha curiously walked over. Were they awake? At this hour?

She carefully knocked and then opened the door, poking her head in. Her ears were suddenly met with an onslaught of music. Strange, it had been totally silent in the common room; usually when music was blasting, it could be heard all throughout. It was like Aisha stepped into a bubble of sound.

The music cut off seconds later.

Tecna and Musa were staring at her from their respective spots like guilty children. Tecna was on her chair, a controller in hand. Musa was half-standing up on her bed, books in hand. She glanced down and hid the books behind her back under Aisha's curious gaze. Her hair was down, framing her face.

"Hi Aisha, did we wake you?" Tecna was the first to talk, her hands throwing the controller into the trash can and then clasping together like a picture of innocence. Digit flitted from the desk to Tecna's bed, diving into the sheets.

"No, I was already awake." Aisha stepped in and closed the door behind her. "I saw that your light was on and got curious."

Musa slapped her forehead, falling back onto her bed. She narrowly missed Tune, who flew out of the way with an indignant huff. "We forgot to block the light! I'm so sorry, it's been forever since we've done this."

Tecna rubbed the back of her neck. "We'll remember next time."

Aisha raised her eyebrow and crossed her arms, suddenly feeling like Flora. "Next time?"

Tecna smiled nervously and reached inside the trash can to pick up her thrown controller. "Yeah?"

"Is this a frequent occurrence?"

Musa grinned and Aisha's heart skipped a beat. The fairy of music patted a spot on her piano shaped bed, clearly inviting Aisha over. "It's pretty frequent."

"It's like.." Aisha squinted at the clock on Tecna's side of the room before taking a step towards Musa's direction. "Really late, shouldn't you guys be sleeping?"

"We could say the same to you." Musa replied nonchalantly as Aisha sat down carefully at the foot of the bed. Musa scooted backwards towards the head of the bed and bent her knees upwards in order to give Aisha some more room. Despite the lighthearted tone, her dark eyes pierced through Aisha, studying her with slight concern.

Aisha flushed and looked away. "Why are you guys up?"

"We're perpetual night owls." Tecna called over her shoulder. She waved her fingers and a swirl of purple sparkles flew over to the door. Aisha watched closely as they joined a glowing barrier before winking out of sight.

"Sound and light barrier," Musa explained. "It's so that we don't bother the others."

"Weaklings," Digit snickered.

Tune pouted. "How rude!"

"Usually we cast both but we forgot the light one this time." Musa continued, her lips quirking up at the pixies' comments.

Aisha nodded, so that was why she didn't hear the music from before until she poked her head in. She brought her knees to her chest, watching Musa organize some papers in her lap. A closer look revealed it to be schoolwork. "I've never seen you actually study before."

"There's a reason Musa has the best grades out of all of us." Tecna replied absent-mindedly. She cursed as her in-game avatar died while Digit laughed.

"It's nothing much." Musa mumbled, looking embarrassed. "Tecna's way smarter."

"Hey!" Tecna swirled around in her gamer chair to face Musa's bed. Her hand rose to mess up her hair and she pointed to Musa threateningly. "You're literally in the top percentage of our year in terms of grade."

"You are?" Aisha's jaw dropped.

Musa made a dismissive sound from the back of her throat and a hand rose to hide the proud smile on her face. She protested, "I told you that in confidence, Tecna! Plus, there are a bunch of students higher than me. Flora is almost in the top percentage too, and aren't you too?"

"You're in the top ten! That's a miracle with how often we miss classes for missions." Tecna countered. "Aisha, tell her she's amazing."

" _You're_ amazing." Aisha repeated almost instantly. For a second she was worried that she said it too soon, but Musa's eyes crinkled up in response and she waved her hand to start up the booming music again instead of arguing. A strategic retreat.

Tecna rolled over to Aisha in her chair to high-five their victory before scooting back to her desk to whatever game she was playing with Digit. Aisha watched as Tune flew back over Musa's shoulder and perched on the headrest of the bed. The well mannered pixie was mumbling something about how it wasn't proper for a lady to sleep late.

"Tune, you can sleep, you know." Musa said kindly.

"Not unless it's total darkness and quiet." Tune huffed.

Musa rolled her eyes and picked up her pen. "Suit yourself."

Aisha watched the unique dynamic with amusement. Initially she wasn't sure if the two were a good match, but her worries were soon put to rest when Musa came up to her privately in order to ask her what Tune liked and disliked. The eagerness Musa and the rest of the Winx had to protect the pixies really touched her heart.

Tune floated down from her spot to point out something in Musa's textbook. Despite her complaints, she was helping Musa study. Seeing that made Aisha smile. Suddenly feeling like an intruder, Aisha gazed around the room. She had been in it before, but never in the dead of night.

Multiple tech magazines laid scattered on the top of Tecna's wast-high shelf that marked the boundary between the two roommates. As unorganized as they looked, Aisha could confidently bet that they were placed in a manner that made sense to Tecna, who hated things not making sense.

Tecna was sitting crossed legged on her chair in the middle of her space, staring intently at a holographic screen. On top of her desk was some sort of mechanical thing that lit up occasionally. Her bed laid a bit rumpled up from Digit hiding earlier, but everything else was impeccably clean. Every object had its own place.

Musa's side, on the other hand, was more cluttered. A guitar laid on the floor and a flute was balanced hazardously on a stack of albums. The piano-shaped bed created a somewhat L-shape, the head of the bed a lot larger than the foot. Pillows covered the thicker portion, and Aisha was seated at the foot where the bed tapered off.

The desk had a jumble of music sheets on top of it, most of them marked throughly with pencil. A bulletin board with many notes and post its hung above the desk, right next to a giant poster of some handsome singer.

"Orpheus," Musa said.

Aisha's head snapped back towards Musa in surprise. Musa pointed to the poster she had been staring at. "His name is Orpheus."

"Oh, are you a fan?"

" _Am I_?" Musa's eyes lit up. "Of course I am!!"

Aisha held back a chuckle at how Musa launched into a tirade of praises. She swore that the fairy's ears almost wiggled in excitement, studies forgotten.

Tune fluttered away to her spot on the shelf, yawning. She was done for the day. The pixie snuggled up on a pile of fluffy towels.

"You have to listen to his new album." Musa was saying. Her legs straightened out and her left foot nudged Aisha's thigh playfully. "It's a masterpiece."

"I definitely w-"

"Hold on!" Musa squeezed her eyes shut. "I'm literally in control of the music, I'll turn on his new album."

Musa stood and stretched with a yawn. Her sweater rode up, exposing her midriff slightly and Aisha averted her eyes, cheeks burning. Unaware, Musa picked up her books and brought them over to her messy desk. She sat on her chair, grabbed a remote, and swiveled to face Aisha in one smooth motion with a large grin.

"Wait for your ears to be blessed."

Aisha bit back her response of saying that her ears were already blessed with the sound of Musa's voice.

The instrumental stopped and faint strums of an electric guitar started playing. Musa threw her head back, her skilled hands playing the air like a guitar. Aisha couldn't help but trace the curve of her delicate throat as the chair swiveled around. Now in front of the desk, Musa gathered the music sheets lying about together before sliding them to the side and opening her notebook again.

Aisha closed her eyes for a moment, willing her heartbeat to slow down. Musa was just being Musa. There was absolutely nothing to blush over. Her shoulders relaxed as a male voice began singing, accompanied by even more instruments.

Musa was humming along, her voice soothing away the restlessness Aisha had originally woke up with. The sounds of Tecna's game and her in-game commentary added to the calm atmosphere. The dorm room, filled with light and music, successfully chased away the loneliness Aisha so often felt in record time.

She should visit more, Aisha thought, this was easily the most lively room, even in the daytime. There was always music blasting or games and videos running in the background. Aisha had assumed that the activities ended once curfew started, but clearly she was mistaken.

"So you guys do this every night?" Aisha asked over the music, hiding the hopefulness in her voice. Maybe she could join them whenever she had nightmares.

"Yeah, but how late we stay up depends," Musa answered. Her back was turned, busy writing something down.

"And you always study?"

"Sometimes I practice, or I play with Tecna, but yeah usually I study."

Aisha's stomach rolled with unexplained jealousy at the offhanded comment. She knew that the two were best friends, so why did she feel so envious about it? Maybe because she wanted a best friend too. She wanted to stay up late with someone and play with them too.

Aisha rested her head on her hand, her elbow propped up by her knee. "Why so late?"

"Because there's not enough hours in the day. I can't possibly practice music a good amount, have fun, and keep up with my grades." Musa looked over her shoulder and winked. "It's called being productive."

"And not sleeping?"

Musa pushed her chair backwards into the bed before turning herself to face Aisha. She closed in, invading Aisha's personal space -- not that Aisha minded.

"Sleep is for the weak."

Aisha snorted. "Piff would say otherwise."

Musa cracked open a grin, her nose scrunching up. "Okay, well, I don't have a response to that. Piff is the pixie of a good night's rest after all."

Aisha responded a beat too late, distracted with how Musa's longer side bangs fell down to cover her ears and the nose scrunch she did when coming up with a witty response. She said vaguely, "Yeah?"

"Yeah." Something like concern flickered in Musa's eyes and she gestured to her bed. "You can sleep here, if you want."

Aisha blinked. The bed was way too small to fit two people. "What?"

Musa shrugged. "You looked dazed. Why are you awake anyways?"

"I.." Aisha paused hesitantly. She took a deep breath, she could trust Musa. "Nightmares."

Musa eyed Aisha carefully. "Do you want to talk about them?"

Aisha shrugged and Musa seemed to take that as a no. The fairy drew her right knee up and hugged it, looking up at Aisha, who mentally noted that Musa looked a lot smaller at night. It was cute, but she knew that the fairy of music would hate hearing that description so she kept it to herself.

"Well, if you get nightmares again, you can always join us." Musa offered after a pregnant pause. "Tecna and I would love to have you."

"Affirmative!" Tecna called from the other side of the room, engrossed with her game.

Musa giggled at Aisha's expression. "Don't worry, Tecna only starts listening when her name is called."

"Affirmative!" Tecna threw in a thumbs up this time around.

Aisha laughed, relaxing at the knowledge. She didn't want the rest of the Winx knowing about her nightmares just yet.

Musa tapped her head with a pen, deep in thought. She absent-mindedly pushed a lock of dark hair back behind her ear; Aisha forgot how to breathe. The two were still impossibly close together, if Musa scooted any closer their noses would be touching.

The fairy of music snapped out of her thoughts as the song in the background built up to the chorus. Deep, dark blue eyes met cerulean ones before Musa ducked away and started to sing with the music. She moved her chair closer to the speakers, facing away from Aisha.

Aisha let out a breath she hadn't known she was holding. She felt lighter now that Musa invited her to come over whenever, and that she didn't face any judgement for nightmares. Musa clearly seemed to struggle to find what words to say in comforting people, but Aisha appreciated the effort. They couldn't all be as eloquent as Flora or Bloom, after all.

Eventually, the album ended and Musa turned off her speakers with a push of a button. She yawned, grabbing her yellow headphones from their spot on the shelf and placed them around her neck. Tecna, hearing the music stop, ended her game and released a huge yawn. Digit grabbed the controller and flew it to the desk. Aisha looked over curiously, also yawning.

"I told you, Orpheus is amazing." Musa patted the sleeping Tune gently. "He can lure even the most jittery to sleep."

"I bet," Aisha replied. "Are you guys done for the night?"

"Yep." Tecna plopped onto her bed. "The music's off so therefore our brains are off."

Musa nodded, faking seriousness. "A very logical explanation."

Aisha stood up. "I'll be on my way then."

Her wrist was grabbed by Musa. Aisha looked down at her friend, heart flying up her throat.

"I'm serious." Musa shot a glance at Tecna, who wasn't paying attention to their conversation. "Come over anytime, and I recommend listening to Not Afraid by Orpheus. I think you'll like it."

Aisha nodded and Musa released her grip. Tecna waved as Aisha walked by and Aisha returned it with a cheerful good night. She slipped out of the room with a final glance over her shoulder. Musa was already in her own world, nodding along to whatever was playing in her headphones.

The first thing she did the morning after was listen to the song Musa had recommended. The Orpheus guy really did have an amazing voice, almost hypnotic. The song was about fighting off fear and loneliness by relying on the strength within, conveyed through an inspirational hip-pop track.

A smile appeared on her lips, of course Musa correctly pinpointed her music taste, even without any context. They had never exchanged music recommendations before. And of course Musa had recommended a song that consoled her at the same time. The song showed Aisha what Musa wanted to say without having the fairy to say it herself.

Going over to Tecna and Musa's room after nightmares became almost a routine. Aisha would take over Musa's bed or watch Tecna play until her mind was properly soothed.

Sometimes, it would be too late in the night and Aisha would open the door only to see the two sleeping. On nights like those she would play the songs Musa recommended and find solace in them. Because she wasn't alone, she had friends who gladly kept her company in the dead of night.

Other times, only one of the two would be awake. Aisha wandered in several times to a lamp being the only source of light as the other student was fast asleep.

When Musa was asleep and Tecna was awake, Aisha would browse through Tecna's magazines and play games. Every so often she would glance over to Musa's sleeping form to assure herself that her friend was still safe and sound. She wasn't as good as Tecna in those video games, not really seeing the appeal, but she was glad for the distraction.

When Tecna was fast asleep and Musa was awake, Aisha would take over Musa's bed. She would browse the fairy's vast music collection, or subtly stare at Musa. It couldn't be helped, Musa was like the sirens back on Andros, entrancing and harmonious even when she wasn't singing.

"Do you have to study that much?" Aisha asked one night when only her and Musa were awake. She had been watching the way Musa's hair shifted in the light from dark blue to dark purple before realizing her thoughts had wandered to dangerous territory. That promptly spurred her to ask a random question.

Musa lifted a brow, soft classical music playing in the background. "Does it matter?"

Aisha raised her hands to defend herself from her cross-legged position on the bed. "I guess not. You just never seem to care during the day. It's kind of interesting to see you be so studious at night."

It was true, Musa was always wrapped up in her own world of music or interacting with their group instead of studying like Flora and Bloom did.

Musa paused, mulling it over. Her nose scrunched. "What if I just want to keep up my tough girl act?"

"And reveal to the world you actually like studying?" Aisha replied dryly. "The horror."

Musa laughed and set her pen down. "The truth is, I'm a scholarship student."

"Huh?"

"I forgot that you didn't know." Musa twirled a strand of hair. "I got into Alfea via scholarship, an academic scholarship in fact."

"Oh," Aisha realized. "So you need to keep your grades up in order to stay in Alfea?"

"Basically." Musa nodded. "I don't think that Faragonda would necessarily kick me out for failing to meet the scholarship expectations, especially since I'm a part of the Winx, but I don't want to risk it."

"That makes sense." Aisha thought for a moment. Musa didn't speak much about her background. She had known Musa wasn't a princess, but assumed anyway that her family must've been well off enough to send her to such a good school. Like how Flora was the daughter of some noble, or how Tecna's dad was the owner of a well established technology company.

But Musa never exactly revealed who her parents were. Aisha didn't know if the rest of the Winx knew either, but she didn't want to pry. Plus, Musa being on a scholarship did make sense. It explained why she was always doing something, whether it was practicing her many, many, instruments or helping out with school activities, she was always wrapped up with work.

Not to mention her frequent flying habit, she was always in motion. Even while chatting with friends she was tapping along to a beat only she could hear. Her boundless energy had to give out at some point, right? It was astonishing how she could juggle everything while running on such little sleep.

Aisha couldn't keep the respect from bleeding into her voice. "How do you do it?"

"Lots and lots of caffeine." Musa chuckled before grabbing the notes she were going over. She stood up. "Move over."

"What?"

Musa clambered onto the foot of the piano shaped bed and Aisha hurriedly swung her legs horizontally at the head of the bed to make room.

"Relax." The music fairy rolled her eyes, grabbing a pillow and placing it on top of Aisha's thighs. She plopped her head down on the pillow, the back of her head facing Aisha's torso, before starting to read the notes she brought over.

Aisha froze. The violins in the background reached a frenzied staccato that matched the pounding in her ears. Strands of Musa's hair fell past the pillow, tickling her thighs. Instinctively, her hands reached down to catch the stray strands, tucking them behind the ear. Aisha quickly removed her hands right after, however, embarrassed.

A hum of appreciation escaped Musa's lips and her free hand caught Aisha's wrist mid-air. Slowly, she brought it back down, positioning Aisha's palm on top of her ear. Releasing her hold, Musa mimed stroking motions before bringing her hand back down to flip a page.

Aisha obediently started combing through Musa's dark hair. The silky strands ran over her fingers like water. Aisha felt Musa sigh with pleasure when she gently brushed over behind the ear.

In the dim light of Musa's lamp, Tecna's soft and even breathing barely heard over the quiet classical music, Aisha was wide awake. She was too nervous to relax, gingerly caressing Musa's head as the small fairy studied. From her vantage point, she could read Musa's notes, the slanting letters going over the convergence lesson from earlier today. She read the notes as a distraction, her hands soon settling into a rhythm.

The weight of Musa's head slowly got heavier, but it was nothing Aisha couldn't handle. Musa was surprisingly light, a big advantage she had as the group's speediest flyer. Contentment spread from the tip of Aisha's fingers to her heart; it felt like time stopped, like nothing existed outside of her and Musa. A delicate feeling bloomed inside her chest.

"You're gonna make me fall asleep at this rate," Musa mumbled.

"Good," Aisha breathed out. "You work too hard."

"I do not," Musa argued unsuccessfully.

Aisha didn't reply, her eyes too busy tracing the delicate features of her friend's face. The high cheekbones and soft jawline; her too-big ears that picked up even the smallest sounds. She watched as Musa's blinks grew few and far between, as her breathing changed and the arm that propped up her notes dropped. Aisha didn't dare move for at least a couple minutes, continuing to comb Musa's hair. Then, she gently wrestled the notes from Musa's limp hand and carefully maneuvered herself from out under.

She slipped out of the bed to turn off the lamplight before sneaking out of the room. The classical music continued on in the background, cutting off as soon as she stepped past the door. She had kept the classical music on, partly because she didn't know how to work Musa's complicated speaker system and also because she knew that Musa liked having music playing at all times.

Back in the safety of her own room, Aisha pulled the covers over herself. Although she was still buzzing from how close Musa was, sleep came easily. That's how Aisha knew they had something special, because she could sleep peacefully after spending time with _her_.


	2. lots of hugs

"This is a really popular question-slash-test on Earth." Bloom said at breakfast. "It goes like: would you rather have a cookie now or wait and get another one later?"

Flora raised her hand. "So, one now or two later?"

Bloom nodded.

"What kind of question is that?" Stella asked. "Obviously two cookies later."

Aisha nodded in agreement, munching on a cookie of her own. It was the logical choice, to get a larger reward with a bit more waiting. The rest of the group seemed to agree with Stella, except Musa, who didn't give an answer. The fairy instead stopped eating with her usual gusto and stared down at her fork, silent.

"So, Musa?" Bloom prompted Musa.

Musa looked up from her plate stacked with food. For someone so small, she surely could eat a whole buffet. She blinked. "I would take the one cookie now."

"Why?" Stella asked.

"Because the cookies aren't garunteed."

"But didn't Bloom say it was?" Tecna chimed in.

Musa shrugged. "If you push off eating your first cookie in order to get another one, your first cookie can get taken away."

"By who?" Bloom asked.

"Mmmmhhhh, anyone." Musa speared a piece of fruit and promptly ate it. "I'd take the one cookie now any day, thank you."

"Suit yourself." Stella shrugged.

Aisha watched Musa closely. The music fairy seemed a bit out of it, finishing off the rest of her food slower than usual.

"I gotta go." Musa grabbed her empty plate to clean up. "I have umm... practice to do, bye!"

"Did we say something wrong?" Flora asked worriedly, watching Musa go away.

"I don't think so," Tecna replied. "But I'll check up on her."

Tecna shoved a slice of toasted bread with jam into her mouth before going after her best friend. Aisha watched with the others, concern filling her thoughts. They had their convergence test soon, there couldn't be any internal conflict or they would risk failure.

Aisha was running. She seemed to be doing a lot of that lately. Running from her insecurities that rose to the surface by Stella saying "the five of us". The five of them? It had been weeks since Aisha joined Alfea, they've been six for long enough. She was finally sure that she made real friends, that she belonged, when Stella had to ruin that dream.

Of course it was a fantasy. Aisha would never belong; she would always intrude.

She found herself in the courtyard; back against a tree; crying her heart out. That's how Musa found her.

"Aisha." Musa's voice reached her ears, she sounded hesitant.

Aisha looked up at the sound, blinking tears out of her eyes. "It's okay, Musa, I'm okay."

"You know, I come out here too sometimes." Musa scuffed the floor with her shoes, searching for words to say. "When I need to be alone."

"Yeah?"

Musa took a seat next to her. "I think we're a lot alike that way."

"How do you mean?" Aisha asked, genuinely taken aback. Musa always acted so tough.

"I mean that." Musa paused. "Sometimes I feel like an outsider too."

Aisha didn't reply immediately, and Musa went on to elaborate.

"You guys are all from rich and affluent families, I'm barely above a street rat." Musa confided. "Like the cookie test Bloom was talking about earlier. You guys trust that your environment will preserve the cookies for you, I don't."

It was reassuring to have someone who could understand being an imposter. Somehow, Aisha didn't think the others knew about the depth of Musa's insecurities. She sneaked a glance to see Musa staring off into the sky. A bolt of courage struck and she grabbed Musa's hand, squeezing it ever so slightly; Musa squeezed back before letting go.

"Maybe everybody feels that way once in a while, Musa." Aisha retracted her hand.

"Maybe, but you're new here so it's harder for you." Musa's eyes turned towards her, burning into the side of her head.

Aisha stared down at her hands. "I'll be okay."

"No, Aisha." Musa leaned forward on her arm, turning her torso to face Aisha. "You're with us now, you don't have to be alone."

"I just feel like I'm intruding," Aisha mumbled. She met Musa's eager gaze and felt her stomach flop.

"Stella says these things, but she's really a nice person."

"I know--"

"She doesn't think before she speaks." Musa gave a soft smile, one Aisha didn't see often (but wished she did). "But she likes you, and so do I. So, what do you like to do with your best friend?"

Aisha couldn't help a stupid smile from appearing on her face at the term. "I really like dancing, it's my passion."

"Really?" Musa lit up, and, suddenly, the world was crystal clear. "Would you like to teach me?"

"Sure! And I bet you'll learn in two seconds flat." Aisha's heart stuttered at the idea of teaching Musa to dance.

A slow grin spread across Musa's face and the two shared a moment together. Aisha was touched that Musa had opened up a bit more about her past, even if it only intrigued her more. She would like to find out more about Musa, but for now she was content with staring into indigo blue eyes that took her breath away.

"You know," Musa started. "If you were the person administering the cookie test for me, I would wait to get two later."

The meaning behind it was clear, and Aisha took it for what it was worth. Musa trusted her. Enough to risk losing the first cookie to unforseen circumstances.

She found herself tilting her head to match the way Musa looked at her. She opened her mouth to reply, to say that she would gladly entrust Musa with the cookie test as well, when Bloom ran up to them.

Their moment was broken and they returned back to the practice simulation run. Aisha was bleakly reminded that Jared had a crush on Musa. In watching the specialist-in-training attempt to flirt, a piece of her heart eroded away.

The sleepover wasn't much better. Stella had pounced on Musa's love life as soon as they were in pajamas, pressing for details. Again, Aisha was reminded of just how popular Musa was with... well, everyone. She'd seen guys look at the musician with longing, along with a fair share of ladies. If Aisha could bet, she would bet that Musa was second-most-popular in terms of their small little group. But Musa never seemed to notice.

Riven was brought into the conversation, and Aisha felt a bad taste form in her mouth. She didn't like Riven, and not just because she was jealous. He was a world class jerk and she didn't get how Musa could like him at all.

Thankfully, Stella changed the topic to her own love life and Aisha eagerly took a jab at how superficial it seemed in order to further derail the topic. She'd never been more thankful for Stella's self centeredness till now.

"Well actually." Stella bragged. "He fell at my feet."

When they all went to sleep, Aisha was placed next to Musa's sleeping bag. Tecna and Musa had both gone to sleep at an acceptable hour this time, Flora had gone to sleep first, then Bloom and Stella, leaving Aisha as the only one left awake.

Aisha studied Musa once more, watching the moonlight dance across her face. The fairy had earbuds on instead of her usual headphones and, as Aisha watched, Musa stirred. Her eyes fluttered open to see Aisha, the two of them face to face. A light pink dusted her cheeks, which was offset by the conspiratorial grin that soon appeared after.

"Wanna listen?" Musa whispered, lifting her head and pulling out one side of the earbud.

"I- uh.. sure." Aisha stuttered out, reaching for the offered earbud. It fit her ear like magic.

A haunting woodwind was playing against the ambiance of a forest. Aisha was suddenly taken back to when she first saw Musa, when she was playing that lullaby. A female voice joined the flute, her voice echoing and sending shivers down Aisha's spine.

Musa closed her eyes, mouthing along with the lyrics. _"I dreamed of you, called to you from the rooftops_."

She wasn't singing the lyrics out loud, but Aisha's heart ached as if she was.

Going to Earth didn't end in the best way, but Aisha was glad for the moment it gave her to open up a bit.

She was having one of her nightmares again, drifting off as Musa and Stella went to get food. The rattle of trays hitting the table woke her up, Musa looking down at her with a quirked smile. "Wake up sleepyhead."

"Yeah, spill it out." Stella added, taking a seat.

"Spill what out?"

"Where you learned to talk like that?" Stella prompted.

"Oh, well, you know." Aisha hedged. "I'm the princess of Andros."

"Quite a few of us are princesses," Stella laughed. Aisha didn't miss how Musa's eyes flitted down at the table before coming back up at that comment. "Bloom's a princess and she doesn't even say please."

Musa snorted and threw a fry into her mouth. She hummed her pleasure at the taste, tickling Aisha's ears.

"Well on Andros a princess doesn't do much. Right from birth I was trained to be a ---"

"Mistress of Etiquette!" Tune piped up.

"Yeah, it was such a bore." Aisha rolled her eyes.

"Spending all day standing up straight and saying yes ma'am? Yuck." Musa wrinkled her brows.

"A princess should be seen and not heard, don't I know it." Stella agreed, waving an airy hand in the air.

"I couldn't cope." Aisha stared at her hands before lifting her head. "I had to break free."

Musa fixed Aisha in place with those indigo eyes. "Don't worry about that anymore cause you got us now."

"Yep! And we'll make sure you'll always have fun." Stella agreed, grinning that infamous grin. That only meant one thing: shopping.

It was loud at the club, but not the sort Aisha appreciated. The music was terrible, and Musa clearly thought the same thing.

"You know," Musa's nose scrunched. "Usually I would say that there's no such thing as bad music but... yikes.."

Aisha nodded. "You can't possibly dance to this."

They surveyed the crowd and Musa's voice lilted in amusement. "You sure about that?"

Bodies filled the club, all dancing to the horrible music. Aisha laughed and relented. "Okay, maybe you can."

"Is that a challenge?"

"Oh. You're so on."

They were dancing and all Aisha could see was Musa. Their eyes locked, bodies moving in tandem. It would've been perfect if the music wasn't so bad. Musa was right, music could change everything.

"We need better music, this beat is terrible." Aisha complained.

"But Bloom said no magic."

"In this crowded place? No one'll notice."

Musa gave in with a smirk. She ran her fingers through her hair, pondering what music to play before summoning an ounce of her energy. They were surrounded by people who didn't seem to care.

A bright pop song started to play and Aisha cheered. She started moving with renewed vigor, leading Musa around. When they grew tired, they took a break at an empty booth.

"It kinda reminds me of the bars back in Melody." Musa mused. "Except less chaotic."

"That's so cool." Aisha propped her chin on her hand. "This is nothing like Andros."

"I can tell," Musa's eyes flashed with an unnamed emotion.

Aisha shifted, feeling like the conversation was headed towards dangerous territory. "How wild does Melody get?"

Musa's ears twitched at the change of subject but she went with it. "In the city? It gets pretty wild. There's this thing called music gangs, right?"

"Um... right."

"They're basically bands or a group that defend territory for their music. Like, if I'm in a gang area we would only hear their music or the music they like. It's interesting."

"And how do gangfights go?" Aisha leaned in, interested.

"We have a music showdown, of course!" Musa made motions with her hands. "The audience votes for their favorites. I was in a gang once."

"Huh?" Aisha blinked. "How was that like?"

"I got my first piercing there," Musa grinned. "I won a music showdown for them too, best. feeling. ever."

"With what, your voice?"

"My flute! I played a piece my mom used to love. Lots of cultural significance and whatnot. It's one of the reasons why flute is my main instrument. What about you?"

"Me?"

"Why'd you pick up dancing?" Musa smoothly transitioned.

Aisha sighed, there was no way out of this one. "Because I had a friend who taught me that I would be free as long as I had a friend to dance with."

Musa's eyes softened. She was quiet for a moment, weighing her words. "It's true."

"Yeah," Aisha said fondly. "I never saw her again though."

"I'm glad you have at least one good memory from all that."

"I do too." Aisha stood up, suddenly in the mood to dance. She grabbed Musa's hand and dragged her to the floor. "Let's show these people how it's done."

Musa grinned. "You don't even have to ask."

Musa had been practicing like crazy lately. Singing her heart out to a song she composed herself. It was for a concert the schools were holding at the end of the annual tournament, it would be Musa's grand debut.

She'd been on edge all week, and she refused to tell any of them why. Something about a rain dance, but that was all she revealed. Aisha and the others couldn't figure it out.

Aisha had been helping with the choreography for Musa and Stella. She showed Musa and another fairy who was helping with the show her dance in her room, Musa watching with eagle eyes. Having Musa's eyes on her did things to her stomach, but she preened under the attention. If Musa could entrance others by singing, Aisha knew she could do the same with dancing.

"I love it!" Musa's eyes gleamed. "You have to teach it to Stella and me asap."

"Will do, boss." Aisha saluted.

Now, Stella and Aisha were watching Musa run through the song again for like the twentieth time. Stella was getting bored, but Aisha was as equally invested as she was the first time. She did agree that the music fairy should take a break, though.

Musa's father was introduced and Aisha straightened. He was a portly man with receding gray hair and a kind smile.

"I thought I would find you studying," he joked.

Musa let out an airy chuckle, face full of smiles. But things quickly took a turn for the worse when it became apparent that her father didn't approve the career she had in mind.

Aisha's heart ached. So Musa had some conflict with her parents too. She exchanged a look with Stella, they had no idea. Musa was always quiet about her home life, the only thing they knew was that she was a scholarship student. They watched in silence as Musa and her father went outside to chat in private.

"I'm going after her," Aisha whispered after a minute passed.

"Go." Stella nodded. "She's going to need a shoulder to cry on."

Aisha dashed around, looking for where they possibly could be. She spotted them in the empty courtyard and quietly hid behinda tree. They were in a full blown argument, Musa's voice raising slightly. While the volume only incrementally got louder, the pressure in Aisha's ears began to build.

"Young lady, this will be your first and last concert."

"What?! How can you say that? Music was your life!"

"I'm talking about your life!" He exploded.

Aisha stifled a gasp. Musa without music was something she couldn't even imagine. If the fairy wasn't practicing her flute, or any other instrument, she was humming, or tapping along to a tune in her head, or listening to music.

"What happened to your mother hasn't taught you much, has it."

Her ears perked up, the pressure building in them releasing -- as if Musa was caught off guard.

"You and mom taught me to believe in my dreams. And to fight for them! How could you forget that." Musa sounded genuinely hurt.

"You shouldn't have said that, Musa." He shook his head. "You leave me no choice, I'm transferring you to another school."

He stomped off and Aisha rushed to a now bawling Musa. Her urge to punch Musa's father was overwhelming, but the need to comfort her friend was stronger.

She pulled the music fairy into an embrace, cradling her head. "If you wanna talk, I'm right here."

Musa took a deep, shuddering breath. Her blue eyes full of so much pain. She whispered, "okay," over and over as if the mantra would calm herself. When the tears stopped, she stood up and dusted her pants off.

She sniffed. "Let me show you some place."

Aisha followed Musa up and up till they got to an empty lot. Her eyes widened, she'd never been here before.

"This is the top of Specialist Tower." Musa told her, voice finally steady. "It has the best view, see?"

She did see. Cool air tugged at their clothes, the balcony overlooking the forest beyond that separated the Tower from Alfea. It was stunning, but the view wasn't what Aisha had come for.

Musa started talking. She finally opened up about her home life. How her parents got together, were so in love, and pursued music. How money got tough and when her mom got sick, they couldn't afford medicine.

"Mom died and there was nothing we could do," Musa's eyes were downcast. She fidgeted with her fingers.

Aisha moved her hand closer to Musa's, their elbows almost touching. Musa immediately leaned in, her hand slowly drifting towards Aisha's till they bumped.

"Dad never got over it. He didn't play a single note ever again." They finally held hands. "After that, we grew further apart. I spent a lot of time out of the house. Either at school or with my friends."

Her eyes flicked up at the sunset. "I did a lot of bad things, hung with the wrong crowds. Got my first piercing then too."

Aisha was hesitant to say this. "I think your father's just scared that if you follow a musical path you'll end up like your mother."

Musa stared at their entwined hands. "I want to be the fairy of music and I don't wanna lose either you guys or my dad."

"That'll never happen," Aisha promised. "Just give a great show and don't worry about anything else."

It was a great show. Even nervous, Musa belonged up on stage.

Aisha watched with Stella from backstage, the sound of Musa's voice filling up the auditorium. She couldn't look away.

Stella nudged her. "The elf muses can't top this."

Aisha was inclined to agree.

Then Stormy happened. Aisha watched with growing horror as the witch targeted Musa's father and threatened the whole auditorium. Why did Stormy have a grudge against Musa?

"Fire away, Musa, but think of what your sonic bombs will do to these people." Stormy mocked as Musa transformed.

Aisha frowned as Musa faltered. Stormy was right. Musa's powers were hard to control the scope of, and fighting here with so many delicate ears would do more harm than good. If anyone in the audience were an elf, or from Melody, their ears could be seriously damaged. That's why Musa's fairy transformation came with headphones.

"Do you really wanna hurt them?" Stormy mocked.

Musa considered her options and she stepped up to the mic. And when she asked the audience to sing, they were speechless.

"What? Do you think Musa's going insane?" Stella asked.

Aisha shook her head. "We have to trust her."

So they sang along. Aisha watched with wide eyes as Musa channeled the song into her powers, blasting Stormy away. The light the sound made was blinding, forcing Aisha to look away. Musa fell to the ground afterwards, a satisfied smirk on her face.

Stella ran up to her first. "Musa that was so cool!"

Aisha tackled her in a hug, cheering. After a second, Musa hesitantly hugged back.

"Oh! Sorry," Aisha pulled back with a smile. "You don't do that touchy feely thing; you're so tough."

She put emphasis on the tough, her expression smug. Musa actually loved hugs, Aisha knew this and she knew Musa knew she knew this. However, Musa liked putting on an act of not liking hugging to fit her tomboy reputation.

Musa rolled her eyes. "I'll make an exception, for you."

Aisha chuckled, secretly elated. She helped Musa up and the pixies flitted up to them. They were curious about the effects of the music beam as it was so powerful.

The music fairy winked. "Don't worry. The power of a love song never hurt anyone."

Musa was out of it the days following the concert. She would disappear during their free periods, nowhere to be found. If she wasn't gone, she would be talking to the professors or playing her instrument in a very un-Musa like way -- brows knitted together and eyes narrowed in concentration instead of getting swept up in the music.

Aisha was worried, their whole group was worried. Flora exchanged glances with Tecna whenever Musa didn't answer their questions, humming away instead like she couldn't hear them. Stella tried to make even more obnoxious comments to cajole a response but Musa never rose to the bait. Bloom tried confronting her, but she kept ducking away.

It was time to follow her, Aisha decided when nothing seemed to be working. So, after classes ended for the day, Aisha refused to leave Musa's side.

"Clingy much?" Musa grumbled as they walked past the courtyard for the third time. She was leading them in circles, clearly trying to lose her.

"Secretive much?" Aisha shot back. Her longer legs easily kept up.

Musa grumbled about something under her breath, clutching her books tighter. She led Aisha around the fountain for what seemed like the millionth time then stopped.

"Okay, wanna see what I've been up to?" She sounded annoyed. "Follow me."

She spun on her heel and transformed, zooming away to the air. Aisha stared, there was no way she could keep up -- they both knew this. She watched the red dot grow smaller as Musa zig zagged, clearly trying to confuse Aisha even more.

"Well, if you wanna play like that," Aisha muttered to herself, throughly annoyed. She walked back into the building and took the stairs, she had an inkling of where Musa would be now. Whenever the smaller fairy wanted to be alone, she always seemed to gravitate to heights.

She was right. Musa was at the highest tower in Alfea, the open pavilion surrounded by marble support beams and wide rails. It was the music fairy's favorite spot. Unlike usual, Musa wasn't sitting on the stone balcony, she was sitting against it -- back against the amazing view. There were books scattered around her. She didn't seem to notice Aisha, her face racked in concetration. Her mouth was open as if she was screaming, but no sound came out.

Then, her head snapped up. Their eyes met, Musa's flashing a purple glow. Aisha tilted her head, that was new.

"Aisha," Musa sounded surprised. "I thought I lost you."

Aisha walked over, eyes scanning the open notebook filled with a familiar loopy scrawl. She crouched down, reading. "Echolocation?"

She looked up to meet Musa's tired gaze. The music fairy seemed to age ten years. A defeated nod and then an attempt at a smile. "Yeah, you caught me."

"What's all this for?"

"Can't I be an overachiever?" False bravado. "It's just extra material."

Aisha arched a brow. "You've been out of it ever since the concert. Clearly something's wrong."

Musa sighed and leaned her head back. "It's just.. I never realized how useless my powers were, y'know?"

Useless? Aisha had a lot of words to describe Musa, useless was not one of them. She sat down, criss-crossing her legs.

"Yeah I pack a punch, but I can't do anything small scale." Musa continued, refusing to look at Aisha. Her expression was anguished. "My sonic boom would've defeated Stormy but others would've gotten hurt in the process. I could've hurt someone innocent."

Aisha started to reach out to comfort her but retracted her hand.

"And I couldn't come to the caves with you, Stella, and Bloom back when we met. My powers would've done more harm than good. You saw me literally bring the whole ceiling down in the simulation."

"So, echolocation?"

"Yeah, for caves or dark areas. I found out about it when you guys were gone for the pixies but it just came to mind recently." Musa's eyes moved from staring at the ceiling and over to Aisha. A small quirk to her lips. "So I can actually follow you next time."

Aisha coughed, fanning her face. "I don't go into caves that often."

"You definitely do." Musa finally laughed, a beautiful melodic sound.

"How does it work?" Aisha asked, genuinely curious.

Musa leaned over and pointed to a spot in the notebook, explaining all the details of the skill. Aisha tried to pay attention, she really did, but she kept getting distracted by how determined Musa was to get this right. The fairy had her mind set, and nothing was going to get in her way -- not even proper rest.

"I've been paying attention to how sound moves through the air," she was saying. "Like how my flute works, and how people sound like when they talk. There's so many vibrations in the air, even now when it's just us."

"Mmmhmm" Aisha hummed. Her gaze roved around the multiple books scattered. There was one about Earth creatures like bats and dolphins, another one about whales on Melody. Lots and lots of books about Melody.

Musa's ears twitched and she smiled. "Your voice is very unique. I like it."

"I like your voice to," Aisha replied dryly.

Musa froze for a split second before relaxing. She moved her hands in a motion to get Aisha to stand up. "Since you're here, might as well use you as my guinea pig."

"To find me in caves?"

A smile reached Musa's eyes. "To find you in caves."

Aisha started to join Musa during her echolocation practices. She managed to convince the smaller fairy to tell the group about the reason behind her absences. The Winx had all taken it very well, as expected, wrapping Musa in a hug she loudly complained about.

She mainly stuck around to make sure the music fairy was taking care of herself. Musa so often had a one-track mind about things, something Aisha admired and also grew concerned over. They started cutting fruit as snack during their time up on the tower. No one ever came up here, sometimes Musa treated Aisha to a private concert with her flute.

"Hopefully, when I get better, I can follow people just by their footsteps." Musa told Aisha. She munched on a pear slice and handed Aisha one casually.

Aisha took it, blushing as always when she remembered the meaning behind cut fruit on Melody. "That's possible?"

"Apparently." Musa pointed to her notebook. "It's very advance though."

"Cool," Aisha bit into her pear slice. "I bet you can pull it off."

"One step at a time," Musa agreed absentmindedly. Her eyes scanned her notebook for the thousandth time.

Aisha finished off the last pear slice and scooted closer, ready to do what she had to do -- and use force if necessary. Usually she would help Musa by using her Morphix powers but today she decided that the fairy needed sleep.

"Oh, nice." Musa looked up. "Can you try making a tree t--"

She was cut off as Aisha wrapped her in a tight hug. Musa's muffled complaints died down as if became clearer that Aisha wouldn't let go. They stayed like this for a while, Aisha humming a siren song popular back in Andros. It didn't take long for Musa's breath to even out and her to fall asleep, the exertion of learning a new type of magic finally wearing down on her.

Aisha watched the sun set with Musa in her arms.

The Wildlands were a well deserved break. Except for the part where they ran into the Trix.

Before all that, however, Aisha was enjoying th leisure time. Stealing Timmy's waterbike was all in good fun, and she couldn't deny the itch she always had for movement.

The waves of the lake called to her, who was she to decline?

While surfing the waves, she felt eyes on her. Looking over to where the rest of the girls laid gossiping, she saw Musa staring back. Aisha couldn't see the fairy's expression from here, but she could see the wave. She waved back, angling the waterbike back to shore.

Musa stood up and walked to the water, her eyes lighting up. As soon as they were in hearing distance from each other, she called out. "How is it?"

"Amazing." Aisha replied, a little bit breathless. "Like a dream."

"I want to try." Musa's eyes gleamed. "Can I join you?"

Dumbly, Aisha nodded and scooted forward. She stilled when Musa settled in behind her and forgot to breathe when sinewy arms wrapped around her. She barely managed to choke out a "ready?" going red at the contact.

"Step on it."

And they were off. If Aisha rode with a little more flourish than usual, then that was her prerogative.

Musa whooped in her ear, the two of them joining the other Specialists as they zoomed across the lake. Jeers and jokes among them were exchanged, Musa talking back with that snark of hers, her well placed comebacks serving the most damage on egos each time. She laughed that twinkling laugh that sounded like music and light and happiness.

The wind in her face and the roar of the waves weren't the only reason behind Aisha's wide grin. The feeling of Musa pressed against her was also a contributer, to say the least.

"We could take him," Musa murmured against her ear.

A shiver ran up Aisha's spine. She eyed Riven, who had challenged them to a race, feeling a smirk coming on. "We could."

"Too scared?" Riven interrupted.

"In your dreams," Aisha retorted.

Musa stuck out a tongue, her head shifting so that her cheek was pressed against Aisha's back.

Riven rolled his eyes and mentioned Brandon over to start them off. "Oh you are so on."

They didn't win the race, but that was because Musa decided to blast a sonic boom in her ear because she got too excited.

"Sorry," Musa patted Aisha's back.

Aisha blinked away the ringing in her ears. She arched a lazy eyebrow at the music fairy who looked far too amused, was she really sorry?

"I'll make all the s'mores you want at the campfire." Musa placated.

"That's not enough."

"What?!" Musa's face turned faux-offended. "How else c--"

A wave of Aisha's creation crashed into them, a shriek escaping Musa's mouth as she bowled over. She fell from the waterbike as Aisha sat there and laughed.

Musa surfaced and rubbed the water out of her eyes. She treaded water, glaring at Aisha before admitting. "I deserved that."

Aisha reached out a hand to help Musa ride the waterbike again. Their friends plus Timmy were on shore waiting for them so they could start the next activity. Already the other Specialists were making their way over.

"Don't forget about the s'mores."

Musa pressed up against her, wrapping her arms around Aisha's torso. She promised. "I won't."

It was a wonder how Aisha made it to shore in one piece after that.

The Wildlands had its own share of spats too. The six of them were still adjusting together, and Aisha still felt iffy with Stella. The light fairy didn't like change. But being finally able to hold an actual conversation with her was nice. She hadn't expected the always sunny fairy to be hiding something deep inside.

And then she'd gotten lost and alone, her worst fear. All she could think about were her friends, and Musa. What if they were in trouble? What if Musa were in trouble?

Gaining her Charmix felt like a minor victory considering that she was still lost.

Bloom brought her back, the others a little worse for the wear for dealing with the Trix. Musa had crashed into her, voice shaking as she reprimanded Aisha for going where she couldn't follow.

Musa held her at shoulder-length, eyes blazing. "For someone so afraid of being alone you sure like going off ALONE."

Aisha opened her mouth to protest but Musa bulldozed on.

"It's not like I learned echolocation because I didn't want to be useless in caves for you, or that I cut fruit for you, or that I specifically searched for music for you--" she stopped, took a deep breath and pulled Aisha into a tight hug. "You have friends now, okay? Not everything needs to be done alone and I'm not going to let you go ever again."

Aisha's arms automatically wrapped around the smaller's frame. She was stunned, not expecting an outburst from Musa especially. It touched her heart, that someone cared this much about her.

"Don't do that ever again," Musa's voice was muffled, her face buried in Aisha's chest. Aisha felt the fabric dampen.

"I won't," Aisha promised, although it technically hadn't been her fault that she had gotten lost.

Musa lifted her head, drying her tears. She jabbed a finger at Aisha's heart, emphasizing each word. "If I have to tie you to a leash I will."

The threat fell empty as Aisha couldn't help the laugh that escaped. She teased. "Isn't that why you learned echolocation?"

Musa's face bloomed red and she buried her face again. Her ears became the most lovely shade of pink, offset by the black earrings she were wearing today. The arms around Aisha's neck tightened.

"Shut up."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, so that's all I have written for this.. so far. I know it's not really a closed ending and I'm open to continuing it (I already started writing some more scenes) but this is just what I have right now pre-written. Hope you enjoyed!


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